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Early 1945 the Hydro Electric
Scheme at Loch Sloy was to commence. The Glasgow firm of Crowley Russel
were awarded the first part of this contract. The firmís agent Mr.
Davidson and my father James Ross were sent to Sloy from a large MOD
contract in Fife to get contract started after organising the cutting of
the first sod by Mrs Tom Johnson the wife of the Secretary of State for
Scotland. He was the power behind getting these Hydro Schemes commenced
in Scotland.

Work then commenced on building
the temporary power station which was to supply electricity for the
whole scheme. Also a power line was erected to Arrochar to give them
their first electric lighting. The switching on ceremony was performed
by the oldest inhabitant Ė a Miss McFarlane.

Work also commenced on building
the camps (north, south and Ardvorlich) to house the workforce necessary
for this large contract. Access roads were made up the glens to the top
of the Dam via a small rock tunnel, to the quarry site at Corriegroggan
and up the side of Ben Vorlich to the top of the incline railway and
main tunnel outlet from Loch Sloy.

My father was kept very busy at
this time ably supported by foremen and gangers who wanted to come with
him from Fife. He also gave work to some local lads, Archie Campbell (a
joiner), Alistair Bell (Driver) and Calum McLean who just left school
were ones I remember most. My father used to walk round all the various
parts of this contract every day which entailed quite a few miles seeing
everything was going smoothly. Calum McLean became his messenger and
went everywhere with him and to take any messages back to the office or
to some of the gangers. He said that he did not require rocking to
sleep at night. He eventually got to work as an Apprentice Mechanic
with the firms head mechanic and became a great mechanic himself. The
firm also won the contract to diver the A83 at the power station. When
this contract was almost finished sadly Mr. Crowley, the firmsí owner,
died but his son did not want to take over the firm even when Mr.
Davidson and my father said they would help to keep the firm going but
his heart was not in it so ended for my father years of working with a
wonderful firm.

Shortly after this my father got
word from a friend who had a contracting business in Fort William to
come and work for them as general manager. Most of the work was
scattered over the west coast of Scotland. He enjoyed the work but it
required a lot of travelling and only managed to come home about once a
fortnight. He was offered a house near Fort William but my mother
wanted to stay in Arrochar it was the longest we ever stayed in one
place since before 1939. My father was always sent to get contracts
started a year somewhere eighteen months maybe at the next and so on all
MOD new airfield construction.

My father decided that he too
would stay in Arrochar. I think he was a bit fed up himself of all the
moving about. The Forestry Commission asked if he would do some work
for them so he started his company and eventually gave employment to a
lot of men and apprenticeships to quite a few young local lads. He
never turned any local man away who required work even for weekends
only.

He never retired from work, it
was what he enjoyed right to the end.

GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR AT
SLOY

by Arthur Ross

Shortly after work commenced on
the camps etc. word came that some POW's would be arriving and some
would like to be trained as tradesmen probably in preparation for when
they return to their own country. They arrived by train from
Garelochhead and Whistlefield stations in two carriages at the new
railway siding at Sloy accompanied by army guards.

My father arranged them into
what kind of work they were used to. Some were sent to work with the
gangs on the access roads. As I was the only bricklayer on site at this
time I was given twenty to train as bricklayers and others to be
labourers to them. I was thankful for them as the Nissen type huts were
getting erected and had to have brickwork gables and partitions built in
them. Once I showed them how to build brickwork they were quick to
learn and good workers. We also had to build stone walls to the
culverts on the access roads along with some retaining walls. Later
some bricklayers arrived, some from demob from the forces. I put them to
work to finish the brickwork to the stores and offices at the Diesel
Power Station. They were not very happy about the POW's doing their
work, so I asked my father if the POW's could be sent to the Ardvorlich
Camp as it was near ready for bricklayers.

About
now word came that some other POW's would be arriving and to expect some
trouble from them. When they arrived with quite a few guards to keep an
eye on them it was obvious things would be awkward. They were all ex-SS
and would not do anything and thus upset the other POW's. After a short
period my father said enough was enough and got them sent back to camp.
The POW's at Ardvorlich camp site were thankful the SS were sent away.
I think they disrupted life in their camps also.

Two
POW's worked in the office for my father. One was called Hans but I
cannot remember the other's name. Hans became a good friend of our
family and visited us at home in Arrochar along with his friend.

Eventually the POW's were
getting repatriated home. They were excited at seeing their families at
last although some were very apprehensive at what was waiting them in
the Russian sector. One wrote later to me and said things were not good
with shortages of food etc. They enjoyed working at Sloy and in their
camps at Garelochhead where they were allowed to go into the village.
During their time in camp they made all kinds of things; toys and
cigarette boxes. Hans painted a copy of the famous sunflowers painting
and presented it to my mother before going away. I also still have a
cigarette case made in plywood with this inscription on the back:

The world has room for
everybody
Distribute the goods of the earth proportionately
Esteem every man of every nation
And for the weal of the mankind
Long to avoid wars
My desire Hans

Very appropriate for the way
things are today. This is just a small part of what they did at Sloy.

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Above is the plaque on display in the offices.
Below are some pictures of a train derailment that occurred during the
construction.

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Below is the full content of the book prepared
prior to the opening of the Loch Sloy Hydro Electric Scheme. A copy was
presented to each of the management team at the time.